60% of Greek bondholders ready to swap: report (by MarketWatch)
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Investors holding around 60% of eligible Greek government bonds have indicated so far they will participate in a massive debt swap, Bloomberg reported Thursday. That puts the country nearer to completion of a major sovereign restructuring that aims to cut more than 100 billion euros ($132 billion) off of Greece's debt load and also serves as a prerequisite to the release of a second 130 billion euro bailout for Greece from its euro-zone partners and the International Monetary Fund. Bond holders have until 10 p.m. Athens time, or 3 p.m. Eastern, on Thursday to tender shares. Greece's debt management agency said it will detail results on Friday morning. The Greek government has said it will move to invoke clauses that would force all private bondholders to participate in the swap if the response is insufficient. That would require a majority of bondholders to participate, with those representing 66% of bondholdings voting to invoke the clauses.